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Home , Denis Kudla, Dudi Sela, Steve Johnson (tennis), Thiemo de Bakker, Tommy Paul (tennis), Treat Huey

ABIERTO MEXICANO TELCEL presented by HSBC: PREVIEW & DAY 1 MEDIA NOTES Monday, February 22, 2016

The Fairmont Acapulco Princess, Acapulco, Mexico | February 22 – February 27, 2016 Draw: S-32, D-16 | Prize Money: $1,551,830 | Surface: Outdoor Hard

ATP Info: Tournament Info: ATP PR & Marketing: www.ATPWorldTour.com www.abiertomexicanodetenis.com Edward La Cava: [email protected] @ATPWorldTour @AbiertoTelcel Greg Sharko: [email protected] facebook.com/ATPWorldTour facebook.com/AbiertoMexicanoDeTenis Press Room: + 52 744 466 3899

ACAPULCO TALKING POINTS

SPOTLIGHT ON MEXICO: One of the favourite destinations on the ATP World Tour is the Acapulco Princess Mundo Imperial, site of the 500 level Abierto Mexicano Telcel. The tournament made the switch from red clay to blue hard courts in 2014 and this year’s field features five Top 25 players, led by World No. 8 and reigning champion . The Spaniard’s title points from Rio last year dropped off. The others include: No. 6 , No. 12 Marin Cilic, No. 15 and No. 21 . Rounding out the seeds are: Ivo Karlovic, Jeremy Chardy and . Ferrer is eyeing a fifth Acapulco title after earning a three-peat from 2010-'12. The other former winner in the field is (2014).

DAY 1 PREVIEW: There are six singles matches scheduled on Monday: Mexican wild card Tigre Hank vs. of France, Japanese / No. 2 seed Kei Nishikori vs. Dutch qualifier Thiemo de Bakker, Mexican wild card Lucas Gomez vs. Victor Estrella Burgos, Mexican wild card Luis Patino vs. Dutchman , American vs. Gilles Muller of Luxembourg and Ukrainian Illya Marchenko vs. American qualifier .

REIGNING CHAMP: Ferrer is making his 10th tournament appearance (29-5) and he is a four-time champion (2010-11-12, ’15). The 33-year-old Spaniard has won three or more titles at four tournaments in his career, including Acapulco three straight years from 2010-12. Here are Ferrer’s three-or-more titles: Acapulco (4) – 2015, ‘12, ’11, ’10 Auckland (4) – 2013, ‘12, ’11, ’07 Valencia (3) – 2012, ’10, ’08 - Buenos Aires (3) – 2014, ‘13, ’12

KEI ON A ROLL: No. 2 seed Kei Nishikori comes into Acapulco after winning his fourth straight title in Memphis last Sunday (d. Fritz). The 26-year-old Japanese star is making his third appearance in Acapulco, having reached the second round in his 2012 debut and final last year (l. to Ferrer). Nishikori has a 9-2 match record on the season and last month he reached the quarter-finals in Brisbane (l. to Tomic) and at the (l. to Djokovic).

IVO EYSE 300: No. 6 seed Ivo Karlovic, who is the oldest player in the singles draw at 36 (turns 37 next Sunday), is one win away from 300 in his career. Karlovic has reached the quarter-finals here the last two years. The big-serving Croat has been slowed by a right knee injury and he’s looking for his first match win (0-3) of the season.

LATE BLOOMER: The oldest winner on the ATP World Tour this season is 35-year-old Victor Estrella Burgos, who repeated his title in Quito (d. Bellucci) two weeks ago. The Dominican Republic native is making his second appearance in Acapulco after a 1R exit last season.

THIEM MAKES DEBUT: No. 4 seed Dominic Thiem, who captured his fourth career ATP World Tour title in Buenos Aires last Sunday (d. Almagro) and followed with a semi-final in Rio (l. to Pella), is making his debut in Acapulco. The 22-year-old Austrian has defeated the top two Spaniards, (Buenos Aires SF) and David Ferrer (Rio QF) the last two weeks

Abierto Mexicano Telcel presented by HSBC Day 1 – Monday, February 22, 2016 Page 2 of 6 www.ATPWorldTour.com

TITLE HUNT: No. 1 seed and defending champion Ferrer is one of two former champions in this year’s draw. He is joined by No. 3 seed and 2014 champion Grigor Dimitrov.

SINGLES HONOR ROLL (since 2006): BOLD - Players in singles draw

YEAR WINNER FINALIST SCORE

2015 David Ferrer Kei Nishikori 6-3, 7-5 2014 Grigor Dimitrov 7-6(1), 3-6, 7-6(5)

2013 Rafael Nadal David Ferrer 6-0, 6-2 2012 David Ferrer 6-1, 6-2

2011 David Ferrer Nicolas Almagro 7-6(4), 6-7(2), 6-2 2010 David Ferrer 6-3, 3-6, 6-1

2009 Nicolas Almagro Gael Monfils 6-4, 6-4 2008 Nicolas Almagro David Nalbandian 6-1, 7-6(1)

2007 Juan Ignacio Chela Carlos Moya 6-3, 7-6(2)

2006 Juan Ignacio Chela 7-6(5), 6-4

DOUBLES WATCH: There are no former champions in the draw, however last year’s runners-up and Santiago Gonzalez and playing here this week along with 2014 finalist , who is playing with . The top seeds are the Colombian duo of Juan Sebastian Cabal and , who are looking to win their third title in a row after winning at Buenos Aires and Rio de Janeiro. The other seeds are all making their tournament debut as a pairing.

DOUBLES HONOR ROLL (since 2006): BOLD - Players in doubles draw

YEAR CHAMPION RUNNER-UP 2015 / Mariusz Fyrstenberg / Santiago Gonzalez 2014 Kevin Anderson / Feliciano Lopez / Max Mirnyi 2013 Lukasz Kubot / Simone Bolelli / 2012 David Marrero / Fernando Verdasco / Marc Lopez 2011 Victor Hanescu / Horia Tecau Marcelo Melo / 2010 Lukasz Kubot / Fabio Fognini / Potito Starace 2009 Frantisek Cermak / Michal Mertinak Lukasz Kubot / Oliver Marach 2008 Oliver Marach / Michal Mertinak Agustin Calleri / Luis Horna 2007 Potito Starace / Martin Vassallo Arguello Lukas Dlouhy / Pavel Vizner 2006 Frantisek Cermak / Leos Friedl Potito Starace / Filippo Volandri

Abierto Mexicano Telcel presented by HSBC Day 1 – Monday, February 22, 2016 Page 3 of 6 www.ATPWorldTour.com

SEEDS TO WATCH THIS WEEK

SINGLES:

SEED PLAYER RECORD BEST FINISH

1. David Ferrer (ESP) 29-5 Winner 2010-12, ‘15 2. Kei Nishikori (JPN) 5-2 RUP 2015 3. Marin Cilic (CRO) 0-0 DEBUT 4. Dominic Thiem (AUT) 0-0 DEBUT 5. Bernard Tomic (AUS) 2-1 QF 2015 6. Ivo Karlovic (CRO) 4-2 QF 2014-15 7. Grigor Dimitrov (BUL) 6-1 Winner 2014 8. Jeremy Chardy (FRA) 3-2 QF 2012

 WILDCARDS (3):  YOUNGEST: Lucas Gomez (MEX) (USA) – 18 years, 3 months Tigre Hank (MEX) Luis Patino (MEX)  OLDEST: Ivo Karlovic (CRO) – 36 years, 11 months QUALIFIERS (4): Thiemo de Bakker (NED) TOP COUNTRY BREAKDOWN: Taylor Fritz (USA)  U.S.A. (8), Australia (3), Mexico (3), Croatia (2), (USA) France (2), (2), Ukraine (2) Tommy Paul (USA) Countries in total: 16

DOUBLES:

SEED PLAYER BEST FINISH 1. Juan Sebastian Cabal / Robert Farah SF 2015 2. / DEBUT 3. / DEBUT 4. Treat Huey / Max Mirnyi DEBUT

EMIRATES ATP RANKING POINTS AND PRIZE MONEY

W F SF QF R16 R32 SINGLES RANKING POINTS 500 300 180 90 45 0 SINGLES PRIZE MONEY ($) 321,625 151,050 75,000 37,500 19,000 10,000 DOUBLES RANKING POINTS 500 300 180 90 0 — DOUBLES PRIZE MONEY ($) 94,800 44,800 21,620 11,240 5,890 —

DAY 2 FEDEX ATP HEAD 2 HEADS – In Order of Play by Court

CANCHA CENTRAL

Abierto Mexicano Telcel presented by HSBC Day 1 – Monday, February 22, 2016 Page 4 of 6 www.ATPWorldTour.com

[WC] Tigre Hank (MEX) vs Adrian Mannarino (FRA) First Meeting

Hank FastFacts: 2016 Highlights: YTD W-L: 0-0 YTD Titles: 0 / Career Titles: 0 Date of Birth: September 30, 1991 Emirates ATP Ranking: 446 Acapulco (Best Result-Year): 0-1 (1R 2014)

 The 24-year-old is playing here for the second time (0-1 record), fell in 1R in 2014 (l. to Querrey in 3-sets). Last year fell in qualifying (l. to Bedene in Q1)  Last week fell in 1R at Morelos (MEX) Challenger (l. to Bester)  Career 1-6 record in tour-level events (1-5 in ). Lone win came in 2014 Davis Cup AG II 3R vs. Brazil (d. Lewis)  Has played primarily Futures and has a 82-80 (2-2 in 2016) career record with four titles in seven finals

Mannarino FastFacts: 2016 Highlights: QF(2): Sofia (l Bautista Agut), Delray Beach (l.to Dimitrov) YTD W-L: 4-4 (4-4 on hard) YTD Titles: 0 / Career Titles: 0 Date of Birth: June 29, 1988 Emirates ATP Ranking: 58 Acapulco (Best Result-Year): 0-2 (1R 2014-15)

 The 27-year-old left-hander is playing here for the third straight year and is looking for first tournament win. Fell in 1R in 2014 (l. to Sousa) and 2015 (l. to Tomic)  Last week reached 2nd ATP World Tour QF of the year at Delray Beach (l. to Dimitrov). Also reached QF at Sofia (l. to eventual champion Bautista Agut)  Opened season with victory at Noumea Challenger in New Caledonia (d. Falla). Followed with 1R exits at Sydney (l. to Mahut) and Australian Open (l. to Groth)  In 2015, Frenchman earned career-best 28 wins and enjoyed his 2nd straight Top 50 finish  Reached 1st 2 ATP World Tour finals of career at Auckland (l. to Vesely) and Bogotá (l. to Tomic)  Achieved career-high ranking of No. 27 on July 27 after appearing in Bogotá final

[Q] Thiemo de Bakker (NED) vs [2] Kei Nishikori (JPN) First Meeting de Bakker FastFacts: 2016 Highlights: YTD W-L: 2-5 (2-5 on hard) YTD Titles: 0 / Career Titles: 0 Date of Birth: September 19, 1988 Emirates ATP Ranking: 105 Acapulco (Best Result-Year): Debut

 The 27-year-old Dutchman is making his tournament debut  Last week fell in 1R at Delray Beach (l. to eventual champion Querrey)  Best result of year was 2R twice – Auckland (l. to Fognini) as a qualifier) and Sofia (l. to Seppi). Fell in 1R at Australian Open (l. to Cilic) and (l.to Coric)  In 2015, Dutchman finished in Top 100 of Emirates ATP Rankings (No. 99, 3-7 record) for 1st time since 2010 (No. 43, 28-24)  Returned to Top 100 on November 2 after 112 straight weeks between No. 101 and No. 200  Went 29-13 on ATP Challenger Tour with back-to-back titles to end season at Las Vegas, USA (d. Zemlja) and Monterrey, MEX (d. Estrella Burgos) Abierto Mexicano Telcel presented by HSBC Day 1 – Monday, February 22, 2016 Page 5 of 6 www.ATPWorldTour.com

 Has a career 3-22 record vs Top 10 opponents. Has lost last eight since last win over No. 6 Tomas Berdych at 2013 Bastad. Also has wins over No. 9 Fernando Verdasco at 2010 ATP Masters 1000 Shanghai and No. 10 Jo-Wilfried Tsonga at 2010 Barcelona

Nishikori FastFacts: 2016 Highlights: W: Memphis (d Fritz); QF(2): Brisbane (l Tomic); Australian Open (l Djokovic) YTD W-L: 9-2 YTD Titles: 1 / Career Titles: 11 Date of Birth: December 29, 1989 Emirates ATP Ranking: 6 Acapulco (Best Result-Year): 5-2 (RUP 2015)

 The 26-year-old is playing here for the third time and has a 5-2 tournament record. Reached the final last year (l. to Ferrer) and fell in the 2R in 2012 (l. to Chardy) in tournament debut on clay  Has reached the QF or better in all three events played this year. Highlighted by capturing his fourth straight title at Memphis (d. Fritz)  Opened with year by reaching QF at Brisbane (l. to Tomic) and Australian Open (d. Tsonga on 4R, l. to eventual champion Djokovic)  In 2015, Japanese player finished 2nd straight season in Top 10 of Emirates ATP Rankings. Achieved career-high No. 4 on March 2  Earned 35+ wins in 5 straight years (2011-15), with 54 in both 2014 and 2015  Reached QF or better at 10 of 1st 11 tournaments, highlighted by titles at Memphis (d. Anderson), Barcelona (d. Andujar)

[WC] Lucas Gomez (MEX) vs Victor Estrella Burgos (DOM) First Meeting

Gomez FastFacts: 2016 Highlights: YTD W-L: 0-0 YTD Titles: 0 / Career Titles: 0 Date of Birth: August 11, 1995 Emirates ATP Ranking: 543 Acapulco (Best Result-Year): Debut

 The 20-year-old Mexican wild card is making his tournament debut  Looking for first career tour-level win (0-3 record, all Davis Cup)  Attempting to post first win at any level this year. Fell in 1R at U.S.A. F6 Palm Coast (l. to Sakamoto) and Morelos Challenger (l. to A. Gonzalez), Fell in qualifying at Santo Domingo Challenger (l. to Lama in Q1)  Has played primarily Futures has a career 48-50 record (0-2 in finals), career 2-5 in Challengers

Estrella Burgos FastFacts: 2016 Highlights: W: Quito (d Bellucci) YTD W-L: 5-2 (0-2 on hard) YTD Titles: 1 / Career Titles: 2 Date of Birth: August 2, 1980 Emirates ATP Ranking: 74 Acapulco (Best Result-Year): 0-1 (1R 2015)

 The 35-year-old fell in the 1R last year (l. to Lu) in his tournament debut  Playing in first tour-level event since defending his title at Quito (d. Bellucci) on Feb. 7  Opened the year with 1R losses at Auckland (l. to Sock) and Australian Open (l. to Brands)  In 2015, Dominican finished at a year-end high No. 56, his 2nd straight season in Top 100  Won a career-best 20 matches, highlighted by 1st ATP World Tour title at Quito (d. Lopez 76 in 3rd)  Oldest 1st-time ATP World Tour champion in Open Era and only champion from Dominican Republic  Achieved career-high ranking of No. 43 on July 13 Abierto Mexicano Telcel presented by HSBC Day 1 – Monday, February 22, 2016 Page 6 of 6 www.ATPWorldTour.com

GRANDSTAND

[WC] Luis Patino (MEX) vs Robin Haase (NED) First Meeting

CANCHA 3

Donald Young (USA) vs Gilles Muller (LUX) Muller Leads 1-0 15 Atlanta (U.S.A.) Hard R32 Gilles Muller 6-2 6-1

Illya Marchenko (UKR) vs [Q] Tommy Paul (USA) First Meeting

OTHER FIRST ROUND FEDEX ATP HEAD 2 HEADS – In Draw Order

[1] David Ferrer (ESP) vs (AUS) First Meeting

Steve Johnson (USA) vs Alexandr Dolgopolov (UKR) Johnson Leads 1-0 15 Vienna (Austria) Hard R32 Steve Johnson 6-3 4-6 6-2

Aljaz Bedene (GBR) vs [6] Ivo Karlovic (CRO) Bedene Leads 1-0 11 Vienna (Austria) Hard R32 Aljaz Bedene 7-6(4) ret

[3] Marin Cilic (CRO) vs [Q] Ryan Harrison (USA) Cilic Leads 2-0 11 US Open (U.S.A.) Hard R128 Marin Cilic 6-2 7-5 7-6(6) 14 Delray Beach (U.S.A.) Hard R16 Marin Cilic 6-3 6-4

Rajeev Ram (USA) vs [5] Bernard Tomic (AUS) Ram Leads 1-0 16 Delray Beach (U.S.A.) Hard R32 Rajeev Ram 7-6(3) 6-1

[7] Grigor Dimitrov (BUL) vs (USA) Kudla Leads 1-0 11 Newport (U.S.A.) Grass R16 Denis Kudla 6-1 6-4

Dmitry Tursunov (RUS) vs (AUS) First Meeting

Damir Dzumhur (BIH) vs [4] Dominic Thiem (AUT) First Meeting

[8] Jeremy Chardy (FRA) vs [Q] Taylor Fritz (USA) First Meeting

Sam Querrey (USA) vs Dudi Sela (ISR) Sela Leads 2-1 09 Los Angeles (U.S.A.) Hard QF 6-3 7-5 12 Newport (U.S.A.) Grass R16 Dudi Sela 5-7 7-6(6) 6-2 14 Atlanta (U.S.A.) Hard R16 Dudi Sela 6-2 6-4